A Record of Elder Eastman's Missionary Service in the Quito Ecuador Mission

A Record of Elder Eastman's Missionary Service in the Quito Ecuador Mission

Monday, March 28, 2016

Return to Quito...Turubamba

Hey dad, I'm doing really good. Today we had changes again. This transfer that just ended only had 5 weeks. I think it was because the MTC for people not learning a new language got increased to 3 weeks so make everything even they took off a week from this past transfer. It doesnt make a whole lot of sense why they decided to do it like that, but it's ok. And now all of us missionaries will be getting home a week earlier.

To my surprise both my companion and I got transfered to new places. And I got moved to Quito again! I'm pretty happy to be in Quito again. For some reason Quito has a special place in my heart. Maybe because I started the mission here and was here for the first 9 months of the mission. Most missionaries dont like Quito but I love it. I'm in the part of Quito called Turubamba and I'm with Elder Paíz. He's from El Salvador and has about 8 months in the mission.

For some reason I dont feel like a very old missionary. I just feel like a normal missionary. I'm still just a senior companion. Not a district leader or anything like that. But I think that's ok. I realized today on the bus ride up to Quito that I should just be happy to be a missionary and not worry about what leadership calling I have or dont have. I shouldnt forget about the specialness that just being a missionary has. Alot of missionaries arent satisfied with the mission until they become some type of leader. But as long as we just work as hard as we can the Lord will be happy with our work and we will fufill our calling.

I am physicaly feeling good. The bus ride over here is always a bit rough (it causes headaches) but overall I feel good. The Lord blesses me with the strength I need every day to work.

People here are mostly Catholic. But there are alot of other religions here as well that are big. Like the Johovas Witnesses and Evangelists (im not sure if that is whats its called in english). Not much happens on Easter. They dont eat meat on holy friday, and on sunday every catholic goes to the church to do some stuff there.

Well I sure do love you a bunch dad! Thanks for your love and support!

Elder Eastman

Hey mother! Thank you so much for your wonderful email today!

So if you didnt know, this change (that just ended) only had 5 weeks in it. They normaly have 6. I think it's because the MTC changed to 3 weeks for missionaries not learning language. So to even everything out this change was shorted by a week. That also means that I will be getting home one week early. My companion and I both got changed out of Santo Domingo. Now I'm in Quito again. It makes me happy to be in Quito again. I love this city. I'm now with an elder named Elder Paíz. He's from El Salvador and has 8 months in the mission.

Unfortunatly there hasnt been much progress from Susan Jumbo. Her testimony is still strong but her husband just isnt helping at all. He is only home on the weekends and never wants Susan to go to church. He mostly just doesnt like the church. So Susan hasnt been to church now for 2 weeks. Hopefully things can get better between them and he can let her go to church and get baptised. But now I wont know what's going on with them because I'm in Quito.

The Holy Week didnt really slow the work down at all. Maybe the catholic people were a bit more closed off than normal on holy friday but I'm pretty used to being rejected now. The biggest thing that slows down the work here is when there is a big soccer game. Especially when the national ecuador team plays against some other country. During those games literaly nobody is in the streets and nobody wants to give us their time. Everyone watches those games. There was one of those games this week.

I think one of the highlights of this week was helping a recent convert named Mery Cedeño get a bit more prepared to go to the temple. The ward in Bombolí is taking a trip down to the temple in Guayaquil soon and Mery is planning on going with them. She had her inverview for her temple recomend on sunday and is super excited to go. We talked with her this week about the temples and how special and important they are. Helping people go to the temple feels really really good. I know the temple is the most important place we need to go to in our lives. I have missed going to the temple here. I wish there was a temple close by here so we could go. But it's alright, I'll go as soon as I can.